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Nonprofit Overview

Mission: Global Links is a medical relief and development organization dedicated to supporting health improvement initiatives in resource-poor communities and promoting environmental stewardship in the US healthcare system.
Global Links’ collaborative efforts include:
-Redirecting still-useful materials away from US landfills to support public health programs in targeted communities throughout the Western Hemisphere
-Sharing expertise and technical knowledge with international and domestic partners
-Educating partners, volunteers, and the community on issues of global health and environmental stewardship

Results: Since 1989 Global Links has provided 100 countries with materials worth more than $186 million.

Target demographics: Global Links collaborates with officials, administrators and community leaders to ensure our programs support the work of skilled healthcare professionals and help improve the quality of care for their patients. We work with hospital staff in Western Pennsylvania and beyond to develop sustainable practices for surplus collection and recovery.

Direct beneficiaries per year: Thousands of patients who have access to higher quality medical care as a result of Global Links' strategic partnerships. 50+ healthcare facilities in the US with whom we partner to achieve more environmentally responsible operations.

Geographic areas served: Global Links supports health improvement initiatives in resource-poor communities, primarily in the Western Hemisphere. Global Links collaborates with US healthcare institutions and the community to recover hundreds of tons of high-quality surplus medical materials every year that would otherwise be sent to landfills.

Programs: Global Links’ International Medical Aid Program partners with public health authorities to strengthen health systems for measurable impact in the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere. Our Community Partners Program supports fellow nonprofit organizations in the US that benefit from our materials and experience. Our Environmental Stewardship in Healthcare Program educates a compassionate network of healthcare professionals who work to share surplus with colleagues in resource-poor communities and provides a socially and environmentally responsible alternative to sending still-useful surplus materials to landfills.

Community Stories

307 Stories from Volunteers, Donors & Supporters

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We visited Global Links as part of research for our entrepreneurship project at University of Pittsburgh, and received a very warm welcome, detailed introduction and gracious help from staff members such as Angela and Connor! The medical devices that they have loaned us will surely facilitate our research and our endeavor to develop a low-cost medical device targeting the low resource areas. We are planning to contact them in the near future about figuring out the specific needs for our potential customers, distribution channels and such.

More importantly, this visit is a transformational experience for us! Witnessing the volunteers working in the warehouse full of organized surplus medical supplies and talking to Angela and Connor about the organization's operation, needs and social impact, I was deeply touched by Global Links' noble cause and a hug cannot even express my most sincere gratitude towards these guys. We thank them for all their great work and devotion! I wish I could have brought the whole team to get to know Global Links onsite (the other two members had other engagements that day), since we are all enthusiastic and inspired entrepreneurs who wish to develop something useful for the greater good. We are more than happy to write reviews for the nebulizers and oxygen concentrators that they have loaned us to research on as the least we can do to pay back and start helping out.

We will use our social media presence to spread the word for Global Links. I have also signed up for volunteer. Again, thank you very much for everything, Global Links!

I interned at Global Links in 2012 and had an amazing experience! Global Links motivated me to pursue nonprofit management in Latin America. In the years after my internship, I have remained connected to the mission of Global Links through their strong social media presence. As an Executive Director of a nonprofit serving vulnerable communities in Latin America, I strongly recommend Global Links to grant-making organizations, donors, prospective employees, interns, and volunteers. You will be positively impacted by Global Links in whatever capacity you serve.

We came from Washington&Jefferson College and had an amazing experience at Global LInks on Friday. My students come from foreign countries and this volunteer opportunity shed light into some of the great things local non-profits do in our area. It also gave them a great point of reference to compare how things are done in their own countries. Thanks Global LInks!

I loved volunteering at Global Links this past Saturday! It was an amazing opportunity that I am extremely glad I took up. Not only was it wonderful to contribute and help those who are less fortunate, I was able to meet new people from different school districts with similar interests in medicine meanwhile sorting medical supplies. Although we were standing and sorting supplies for two hours, I barely noticed it was time to leave until someone mentioned it! I would love to volunteer again with Global Links or any other organizations similar to them with the medical supplies. I had an amazing time there and am looking forward to experiences similar to this in the future.

I want to thank Global Links first for the opportunity to finish my school requirements and then for welcoming us back for a few weeks beyond that, it was fun to volunteer for a good cause, and be part of the great atmosphere they have! I will be trying to resume volunteering with them if I am ever in the area again. If that can't happen, then I just want to make sure they know how enjoyable this was for me and how much I appreciate what they do!

The International Society of Wheelchair Professionals (ISWP) Student Group cleaned and assembled wheelchairs at Global Links. It was such a great learning experience, both about Global Links and the needs of the international community. We had a great time and would love to come back soon!

I worked for Global Links right out of college through Student Conservation Association. I am proud to have been part of such an amazing organization - the entire staff and volunteers deeply care about their work and everything clearly supports the overall mission of improving global health. One aspect of Global Links that I appreciate most is their dedication to do no harm. It is not uncommon for global aid organizations to donate items or services that end up hurting more than helping at worst, or are ineffective at best. Global Links is not one of these organizations. Through long-term, strategic partnerships and vigilance and commitment at every level, Global Links provides genuinely needed and wanted items and assistance in a highly effective way.
In addition to Global Links' far-reaching impacts, Global Links also made a huge difference in my life. My experience working at Global Links and the guidance I received from staff played a major role in shaping my career goals and commitment to environmental health. Thank you Global Links!

I am the Director of Christian Hospital, Mungeli. This is a 120 bedded hospital in Rural Chhattisgarh, India.
I came here in 2003 after working in Nashville, TN, USA and work for Global Ministries, the mission branch of the United Church of Christ and the Disciples of Christ, two mainline churches in the States.
The hospital has grown tremendously since we came. I got to know about the Global Links suture program through a medical student who came here about 6 years ago.
Since then, we have been grateful to them for what they have done.
Sutures are the MOST expensive commodity that is used in surgery in our hospital. We do about 2500 surgeries a year and sometimes up to 12 to 15 cases a day is not rare. The sutures that we get through Global Links are very much appreciated and a true saving to the hospital. It is a real story of using something which has been discarded to save lives. This is what we believe Global Links gives us the pleasure of doing.
The hospital is a vibrant place for patients who come from long distances specially for surgery. We people who travel 150 miles and more to get help knowing that they will get the cheapest and best help needed.
Now we have a nursing school, a low cost English Medium school and a Community College which all help to bring about change and educate the people of this region. To know more about what we do our website is: www.chmungeli.org.
We thank Global Links in what they do for us as we take on the challenge of trying to provide low cost modern medical care to our patients.
This is the ideal situation in a world today where we cannot afford the cost of the health care that is provided to us.

I am the Executive Director of a community based, social service organization that focuses on service disparities in underserved communities. Due to increased service demand, we expanded our office space. As is the case for most non-profit organizations, our organizational needs were greater than our resources. I was referred to Global Links by a colleague. Because of the generosity of Global Links, office furniture was donated to our agency. This was a tremendous savings for us. Resultantly we were able to redirect the dollars we would have spent on office furniture to meeting the needs of vulnerable families. In addition to the tangible supplies we obtained, the staff of Global Links were professional, patient and courteous. We are truly appreciative for this type of partnership.

I work for a non profit--Genesis of Pgh. We help pregnant woman in need. Global Links has been most helpful in fulfilling our needs with donations. It was most helpful taking the tour and sitting down with Jennifer and expressing what our needs were and they were explicitly fulfilled during our recent pick up of donations. Everything we received will be put to good use in helping our clients. Global Links is such wonderful company to deal with!! Thank you Global Links!!

Just a quick note about this great organization. It is sobering to realize when small things we take for granted to be there are missing, how they adversely affect people’s lives. Global Links takes surplus medical supplies and gets them to people in need, saving lives. Spending a few hours there every month or so makes a difference! Depending of what you do, it may be the hardest couple of volunteer hours you spend, but will make you feel better about yourself. I’d look into this great organization if you want to help and make a difference!

My company provides volunteer opportunities in the community and I have always enjoyed working at Global Links. It's a great chance to help people with what is considered waste in our world. They have a great team out there and I always feel that what we are doing makes a difference in people's lives. Thanks, Global Links! See you soon!
Trudy Berger

The American Red Cross in Western Pennsylvania is grateful to Global Links for supplying us with Durable Medical Equipment (DME) which enables our disaster response volunteers to quickly and effectively provide for the needs of our disaster clients who have disabilities and other medical concerns. Often, when disaster strikes, Americans with disabilities find themselves evacuated from their homes having left behind the items and equipment they use to facilitate their daily activities and maintain their health. Through our partnership with Global Links we have received wheel chairs, walkers, canes, nebulizers, blood pressure cuffs and other necessary supplies to better serve our clients. Through their generous support of our mission, we have been able to stock DME in 49 Emergency Shelter Trailers throughout the Western Pennslyvania Region. Global Links staff and volunteers have been friendly, professional and generous in spirit. It has been a pleasure working together and we look forward to a long and productive partnership in the future!

As a healthcare professional with over 40 years experience in the operating room, I know the importance of having the necessary supplies and equipment to save lives. Our hospital has been donating to Global links for over a decade and we are proud to support their tireless efforts to help those less fortunate than us. This organization truly makes a difference in thousands of people's lives all around the world. Thank you to all who work and volunteer for this wonderful organization. What they can't use, they recycle at their expense.
Paul Feight RN CNOR

Great Experience overall. As part of a medical student group traveling to serve in Africa, I was a bit weary of where to get necessary supplies. I heard about this Global Links through one of its volunteers and was happy to hear they would accommodate our request even though most of their volunteer efforts are focused in the Americas.

I communicated with a kind representative. Although the process took a little longer than expected, I was more than pleased with the staff's understanding and execution of the request. The supplies were satisfactory.

I am both a volunteer and donor to this organization. As a volunteer coordinator for my congregation, Global Links has accommodated our request for bringing children in to learn about Global Links work but also to contribute to making a difference all the way to bringing in my adult team. We are a small congregation and have found that Global Links has also been a good fit for our on-going donations. We have women who sew and those who are on the look out for even 1 pr. of crutches to unused medical home health supplies. We are learning to be good stewards and reach around the globe to our brothers and sisters. Whether it is inquiring or arranging for a donation to scheduling a volunteer activity, they are always courteous and a real joy to connect with.

I volunteered a few times at Global Links before through the Pittsburgh East Rotary Club and really enjoyed my time helping them out. However, I never realized the impact of their services until starting my new job at the FOCUS Pittsburgh Free Health Center. From the moment that the doctors tat my organization connected me to Global Links for our equipment needs, I knew it would be a wonderful partnership.

They invited me over to their new facilities so I could really get a grasp on their wonderful work and the help they provide to local and international partners. They opened their doors to some of my students as well, so they could see where and who we got all of our equipment from for our clinic. Global Links took all of our requests and fulfilled our equipment needs quickly and provided us with everything we needed. Without them, our clinic would not be functioning and open! They are a wonderful organization!

I can't say enough about Global Links. This organization not only saves lives but also the environment while doing so. They carefully assess the medical needs of people in developing or disadvantaged countries or disaster areas and then work closely with local hospitals, nursing homes and other medical facilities to gather excess medical supplies that would otherwise end up in our landfill. Through the help of volunteers like me, they sort, separate, pack, and ship the appropriate materials where they are needed the most, such as small clinics or areas hit by natural disasters.

One of the things I love the most about Global Links is that they post pictures, videos and newsletters that show the people we help using the materials we've sent them. The things we take for granted here, such as an IV pole or crutches, can mean the difference between disability or self-sufficiency, life or death. We can see the benefit of our work and we know that every little thing we do and item we send is truly making a positive impact on people.

In my eyes, there is no more worthy cause or feeling of gratification than that of volunteering with this amazing organization!

I am at the Children Hospital Boston receiving training with in the department of pediatric neurosurgery.

I live in a developing country also it isn’t easy for me to travel over here. I am a Cuban physician.

Thanks to the wonderful work of Global Links and their help to developing countries everything is possible and when I travel back my patients will receive a medical care of the first level, Global links became dream true.